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Anne of Green Gables

L. M. Montgomery

Chapters 25–28

Chapters 33–36

Summary—Chapter 29: An Epoch in Anne’s Life

On a beautiful September evening, Anne is bringing the
cows back from the pasture when she runs into Diana, who has exciting
news: Aunt Josephine has invited the two girls to her mansion in
Charlottetown to see an exhibition, an event similar to a fair.
The girls go to Aunt Josephine’s estate, called Beechwood, and they
relish their drive. The house is richly decorated, with silk curtains,
velvet carpets, and a spare bedroom specially made up for them.
Anne finds that these luxuries, which she has dreamed about and
yearned for, are actually disappointing and alienating in real life.
She reflects later to Marilla that part of growing up is realizing
that “[t]he things you wanted so much when you were a child don’t
seem half so wonderful to you when you get them.”

The exhibition is exciting, with its displays of knitted
lace, flowers, vegetables, and horseracing. Afterward, when Anne
laments that she will have difficulty returning to normal life,
Aunt Josephine offers to take the girls to a fancy restaurant for
ice cream at eleven P.M. This restaurant
visit comes to represent the excitement of city life to Anne. Upon
returning home, Anne decides she would rather be sleeping in bed
at Green Gables than gallivanting around a city.

Summary—Chapter 30: The Queen’s Class Is Organized

One night Marilla rests after another one of her eye aches,
which occur with increasing frequency and severity. She looks at
Anne with an expression of fondness that she would never permit
herself to show in the daylight when she could be seen. Because
of Marilla’s tendency to veil her affection, Anne does not know,
we are told, that Marilla loves her so much. Marilla tells Anne
that Miss Stacy visited that afternoon, and Anne, assuming Miss
Stacy told Marilla about her recent misbehavior, quickly admits
to sneaking a novel into class when she should have been studying.
Anne also tells Marilla that she and Diana have been talking about
serious subjects like the future and that they are thinking of becoming
old maids and living together. Anne explains that Miss Stacy told
the girls they must cultivate sound characters now, because once
they reach their twenties the foundations of their characters will
be set for life.

Marilla tells Anne that Miss Stacy has invited Anne to
join a group of advanced scholars who will study every day after
school to prepare for the entrance exam to Queen’s Academy in a
year and a half. Marilla says that every woman should be able to
support herself and that teaching is a good profession for a woman.
Anne hesitates to accept the offer to attend college because she
worries that the cost of college will be too high for the Cuthberts.
However, after Marilla says that Anne’s education is worth the cost,
Anne expresses excitement.

The other students in the advanced class are Gilbert
Blythe, Ruby Gillis, Jane Andrews, Josie Pye, Charlie Sloane, and
Moody Spurgeon MacPherson. They study for an hour every day, but
begin to lose their drive when spring comes and the other students
leave school early every day. For the first time since Minnie May
was sick, Anne and Diana are separated, since the Barrys do not
intend to send Diana to college.

The rivalry between Gilbert and Anne rekindles. Gilbert
decides to treat Anne just as coldly as she treats him. This icy
treatment distresses Anne, but she acts unconcerned. She realizes
that she no longer feels angry with Gilbert, and she regrets causing
tension.

The school year ends and Anne locks her books away, declaring that
she wants to make the most of her last summer as a child. The next
day Mrs. Rachel drops by Green Gables, and Marilla tells her that
Matthew has had another bad spell with his heart, which is the first
we hear of his condition. Marilla expresses her happiness that Anne
is growing into a trustworthy person. Mrs. Rachel agrees that she
was mistaken to doubt Anne when she arrived three years ago. She
comments that Anne has improved in everything, especially in her
looks. Though Anne lacks Diana’s coloring and Ruby’s flashy looks,
there is something special and arresting in her “pale, big-eyed style.”

Summary—Chapter 31: Where the Brook and River Meet

After a rich summer free of studying, Anne returns to
school with vigor and ambition. She is now fifteen years old, and
with the other Avonlea scholars attends Debating Club concerts,
parties, sleigh drives, and skating events. Anne is now taller than
Marilla, and her eyes have grown serious. Anne does not chatter
as she used to, explaining to Marilla that “it’s nicer to think
dear, pretty thoughts and keep them in one’s heart.” This change
in Anne saddens Marilla, who misses the bright-eyed child she first
took in. She bursts into tears at the thought that next year Anne
will go to college and leave Green Gables as quiet as it was before
her arrival. Miss Stacy remains a central figure in Anne’s education,
especially in her training as a writer. Anne becomes critical of
her own writing, changing her style from romantic to realistic.
All the scholars are nervous about the upcoming entrance exam to
Queen’s Academy, and Anne has nightmares about failing.

Summary—Chapter 32: The Pass List Is Out

The end of June marks the end of Miss Stacy’s tenure and
Anne’s time at Avonlea School. Anne and Diana walk home, weeping
that their time together as child scholars has ended. Though Anne
is paralyzed by nervousness about her upcoming entrance exam, she
dutifully follows Miss Stacy’s advice and avoids cramming during
the week of the exam. After the first day of the exam, she writes
Diana a letter from Charlottetown, relating the students’ nervousness
and comparing her own sense of foreboding to her fear when she first asked
Marilla if she could stay at Green Gables.

Anne returns to Avonlea and greets Diana as though they
had been apart for years. She spends an agonizing three weeks waiting for
the results of the exam. Although Anne feels she has passed, she claims
she would rather not pass at all than be beaten by her rival, Gilbert.
Finally, the newspaper comes out with the results: Anne and Gilbert
have tied for first place in the entire island, and all the Avonlea
scholars have passed. Matthew, Marilla, Mrs. Rachel, and Diana are
enormously proud of Anne’s success.

Analysis—Chapters 29–32

Having used early chapters of the novel to establish Anne’s -character,
in this section Montgomery shows the results of Anne’s -development
and maturity. Anne is contented, lovely, and -successful. After
visiting Aunt Josephine, Anne realizes that the luxurious belongings
for which she has always yearned do not -satisfy her as she dreamed
they would. She discovers that the ways of Avonlea suit her better
than elegant city life. Even the critical Mrs. Rachel, initially
a vocal critic of Anne’s looks, proclaims that Anne has turned into
a beauty. And Anne’s dedicated studying pays off tangibly when she
ties Gilbert for first place in the entrance exams.

Anne’s progress into adulthood is not always easy, however.
She and Diana cling to their childhoods, deciding that they can
avoid marriage, children, and adulthood by living together as old
maids. The girls know that they will be separated, as Anne will
go to college and Diana will not. Their separation at the end of
every day, as Anne studies with the Queen’s Academy candidates while
Diana goes home, foreshadows the greater separation to come the
following year, when Anne will attend Queen’s Academy full time.
Marilla, too, feels the pangs of impending separation, mourning
the loss of Anne’s childhood and the nearness of her departure for
Queen’s Academy. Marilla appreciates the companionship and energy
Anne brings to Green Gables. As Anne becomes more adult, Matthew
and Marilla grow older; Marilla has frequent head and eye aches,
and Matthew has heart troubles.

Anne benefits from the strong women who encourage her. Whereas
earlier Marilla does not approve of female teachers, she now encourages
Anne to make a career of teaching. Miss Stacy provides a model for
Anne’s possible career as a teacher. Even Mrs. Rachel, who is so
often very critical of Anne, takes pride in Anne’s academic achievements
and begins to respect her as a woman.

The pace of the novel mirrors the pace of Anne’s life.
Earlier in the novel, each minor event, each cooking accident and
social gaffe, fills Anne’s mind, and so fills an entire chapter.
As Anne matures, the events of her life move more quickly, and she
begins to think of important plans like going to college. As a result,
the novel’s pace accelerates. Instead of focusing on one daylong
event, as do the early chapters, these chapters begin to cover entire
school years. The acceleration of the narrative does not necessarily
suggest that Anne is growing up too quickly; rather, it shows that
Anne is maturing and that what she deems important has changed.
In her youth she focuses on immediate events, but as she grows older
she develops a broader, more far-reaching perspective.